Dems Capitulate Again

Rarely if ever have I been more disgusted with the feckless and cowardly Democratic leadership in Congress. Remember the Protect America Act of 2007? Well, it’s back in a big way, with Senate Dems gleefully quaffing even more Bush administration semen than before!

WaPo reports a “compromise” among Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans and the administration on a new bill that “will include full immunity for those [telecommunications] companies that can demonstrate to a court that they acted pursuant to a legal directive in helping the government with surveillance in the United States.” The immunity provision is apparently retroactive, as the Post reports it “would wipe out a series of pending lawsuits alleging violations of privacy rights by telecommunications companies that provided telephone records, summaries of e-mail traffic and other information to the government after Sept. 11, 2001, without receiving court warrants.”

When the legislation passes — and it will — those NinthCircuitcases involving the “state secrets privilege” and about fifty similar lawsuits get bitch-slapped into history’s dustbin. Barring company insiders stealing reams of information from their employers and making the information publicly available, we’ll never, ever, under any circumstances know anything resembling the full extent of this administration’s unlawful domestic surveillance activities.

But hey, the Senate Dem leadership managed to strong-arm one concession from the other side. The new law will sunset. In SIX FUCKING YEARS. Thank God our next president will have the same Hitleresque authority that the Blessed Decider currently enjoys.

Meanwhile, a significantly less odious Democrat-sponsored bill that was making its way through the House of Representatives got put to the sword yesterday when House Republicans outmaneuvered Nancy Pelosi’s bony, idiot ass yet again. Incredibly, Pelosi continues to raise the incompetence bar for all future Speakers of the House with every breath she takes.